The gunshot echoed out into the starry night. The smell of cordite filled the cabin. Blood began to pool on the dusty ground. And there were screams, but the screams were not the muffled ones from Sarah, they came were ones of pain. Beast Boy unclenched his eye lids and realized that he was still alive, and witnessed something he never anticipated: Ramon was lying on the ground with a bullet whole in the back of his knee, and Mason stood over him holding a smoking Ruger SR9 pistol.
Mason exhaled a sigh and said playfully, "Now look at what you made me do Ramon."
Ramon rolled onto his side, pointed the pistol Mason had given him at the arms dealer, then pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing, he pulled the trigger several more times. Click. Click. Click. Still nothing, the gun was empty.
"You really didn't think I'd give you a loaded gun did you Ramon?" Mason asked as he stood over his wounded client. He then shot Ramon in the right shoulder and the gun fell limply from Ramon's hand as he continued to scream out in pain.
"I gotta tell you," Mason said as he kicked the useless gun away just in case. "You psychopaths are so predictable it's sad. Whenever I tried to figure out a way to make you come all the way out here without bodyguards or anything I always came to the same conclusion: Live, Wriggling, Bait."
Beast Boy's mouth hung open but he said nothing, he was far too confused. His eyes darted to Sarah, she was still okay. Good, that's all that mattered. Was he just bait the whole time for this guy? Why was Mason shooting his own ally in the first place anyway?
"You're probably wondering right now: Why the fuck did the one guy I trust most shoot me twice?" Mason continued as he stooped down next to the injured narco-terrorist, his voice was calm and firm the entire time. "Like I said before Ramon, 'you've earned what's coming'."
"What the fuck are you talking about Mason?!" Ramon hissed out in pain.
"Simple Ramon," Mason continued, "I'm holding you accountable for your misdeeds. I know if you were ever captured by the Columbians of the Americans you probably would run away or cap yourself so you would never stand trial or go to jail or be punished for what you've done Ramon. So I'm going to do it for them, I'm holding you responsible for everything Ramon. Tonight you answer to me."
Ramon started to wheeze out a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Mason asked.
"FARC is going to tear you apart for this." Ramon hissed. "Starting tonight you're dead!"
"Oh I wouldn't know about that." Mason said calmly as he looked up towards the door and a figure approached from the shadows. A figure that had been waiting nearby in the foliage and only approached when he heard the gunshot. The figure was that of Alejandro Salazar, drug runner and Ramon's right hand man. Ramon's eyes widened as he slowly began to realize what was happening.
"I did a little digging Ramon," Mason said, "turns out the FARC council doesn't like you that much. In fact, they hate your fucking guts. Turns out you murdered some of the original members when you came to power because they disagreed with you and you're 'let's go to war' policy, you bullied the rest into you're corner."
"And let's call this," Alejandro said finally speaking, "a little bit of lead by example. You made an example of them and we're going to make an example of you."
"You broke the rules Ramon," Mason hissed, "we may be criminals but even we have standards. Let's see the evidence of your crimes."
Alejandro walked into another room and opened up a large freezer and pulled something back into the main room. What he dragged in was a preserved dead body of a child soldier that FARC had recruited. The child was no more that twelve.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury allow me to show exhibit A, a child soldier." Mason said as he pointed at the body. "Look at it Ramon, because of you twenty percent of FARC's soldiers are children. I may not be the most honorable person in the world Ramon but even I know that children is a step too far, hell most of the council I hear agrees with me."
Ramon didn't even look at the dead body. For a second Mason's cold completion cracked and an endless rage flashed across his face as he grabbed a handful of Ramon's hair. "Look at it Ramon! Look at it!" Ramon struggled some more but Mason finally forced Ramon to look at the body. "SEE WHAT YOU'VE DONE! Do you even know his name Ramon? DO YOU?!"
Images of Vincent and what had happened to him flashed in Mason's mind and the thing was screaming once more. But it was singing a different tune now, it wanted Ramon to suffer.
Ramon stayed silent and didn't try to defend his actions.
"His name was Daniel Martinez. You had his whole family murdered after he was take prisoner. Then you sent him onto the frontlines after your boys brain washed him." Mason paused as he became calm again. "But alright, you're stretched for troops in the war you've been waging so I can understand that. May I show the jury exhibit B."
Mason reached into the chest pocket of his silk dark purple shirt and produced a newspaper clipping about FARC's attempted attack on the school and the fair. "Exhibit B, you not only target children but you target them because you know that not in a million years you can never defeat the Columbian government or the United States Army that backs them should anything get too serious. Pathetic, really Ramon."
Ramon finally tried to defend himself this time. "You may not agree with what I do Mason but I'm trying to help the people. I'm trying to give them a better world."
Mason snapped again, he hated it when people didn't take responsibility for their own evil deeds. Mason slammed his fist Ramon's nose, breaking it. He was about to hit Ramon again when he regain control of his anger and turned to Alejandro saying, "Forgive me for that out burst 'your honor', but he provoked me."
Alejandro nodded in understanding, "Continue Mason."
"I just tried to give the people a better world." Ramon wheezed out.
"A better world? What the one like that?" Mason pointed his finger at Beast Boy who was still wonder just what the hell was going on. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury I give you exhibit C: proof that the defendant is a fucking sadistic psychopath. You were going to kill that boy over there for two reasons, increase your own notoriety and just because it makes you feel good. Doesn't it? Killing for you is like smoking a cigarette for a normal person. Just can't think straight without lighting some poor bastard up huh?"
Ramon struggled to say something in his defense but couldn't say anything coherent. Mason didn't wait for him to find a real word.
"Your honor how do you find the defendant?"
Alejandro looked down at Ramon in disgust and finally spat out that one word Mason had been waiting to hear. "Guilty."
Mason walked back to the table and picked up the lead pipe again after securing his pistol into the back of his pants. He walked back over to Ramon and knelt down next to him and said, "You have been found guilty by this court of being a psychotic son of a bitch who doesn't deserve the position of power he's in Ramon. And I here by sentence you to an eternity in Hell! You want to help the people Ramon? Well you're about too… By dying you rat bastard!"
Mason raised up the lead pipe and brought it down hard. Then again, and again, and again. He continued to beast Ramon with the pipe and only stopped when Ramon was within an inch of his life, he was alive but barely. Mason tossed away the weapon; he only wanted to inflict some pain on Ramon before giving him the coup de grace. Mason pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Ramon's head but hesitated and asked, "Would you like to do the honor's Alex?"
Alejandro pulled out his own pistol and pointed it down at Ramon too saying, "Oh no Mason. This was a team effort, we should both share the fun."
Then the two emptied their clips into Ramon's head. Mason left two bullets still in his own pistol but Alejandro fired the whole thing, neither liked the son of a bitch after what he had become. A psychotic monster, there wasn't any room for psychos in this business.
After the gun smoke cleared Mason said to Alejandro, "You are still going to protect me after this right?"
"Of course. Because of you Mason, I'm the new head of FARC. And I plan to take the organization in a 'new' direction." Alejandro said.
"And the soldiers you promised me?"
"Waiting for you where you asked them to be Mason, you kept your end of the bargain and I intend to keep mine."
"Well," Mason said after exhaling a deep breath, murder always jacked up his adrenaline even though he didn't show it. "I think we're done here. I have business to tend to and I believe you have an organization to run, 'your Excellency'."
Alejandro smiled, "I can get used to the sound of that." He then turned and left. Alejandro may not have been Mason's friend, but who knows may be they were and Mason didn't know it. Either way both got what they wanted, Ramon was dead and everybody won. Except for Ramon, of course.
Mason put the gun in the back of his pants again as he approached the tied up and perplexed Beast Boy. Neither said anything, they just stared into each others eyes, two animals waiting for the other to pounce. Finally Mason asked, "You alright?"
"Yeah," Beast Boy said, unsure of how else to answer. "I think so."
"Do you feel any pain?"
"A little, but other wise no."
"Good, because if you were wondering why you weren't feeling any pain throughout the who torture session of ours, it's because I also gave you some pain killers. You weren't my target Beast Boy, the piece of shit behind me was."
"Why'd you kill him?" Beast Boy asked.
"Good question," Mason mused, "One reason is because I have a reputation to look after and I don't want to be compares, even put in the same sentence as a cocksucker like Ramon Jalisco. Another reason is that he was out of control, I believe Jefferson said 'Law without order is more dangerous than order without law' I could be wrong though."
"So what now?" Beast Boy asked as he dangled from where he was.
"If you're wondering whether or not I'm going to kill you, don't worry about it." Mason said calmly as he rolled his sleeves back up again. "Sure you and your friends humiliated me, but after tonight I think we'll be even. Besides I didn't like who I was selling to anyway, probably would have killed them myself if I got the chance. So what happens now is I leave you here, first I have to make a call though."
Mason walked towards the table and picked up a roll of duck tape and duck taped Beast Boy's mouth shut saying, "Can't have you interfering with the call."
He then picked up Beast Boy's communicator from the table, Mason left it off since he kidnapped Beast Boy out of fear that the Titans could track it, and flipped it open and picked out Robin from the list of contacts. Robin's face immediately popped onto the screen.
"Hello Robin," Mason said, he had returned to his sinister persona. "I think you should come here and pick up your friend, he's looking a little worn out." Mason pointed the communicator at Beast Boy, he looked like hell and Mason could hear a gasp on the other line.
"What have you done Mason?" He heard Robin say.
"Nothing that you wouldn't do to me." Mason said, "But I like to be a bit more original than that so…" Mason pointed his pistol in Beast Boy's general direction and away from the view of the communicator and fired the last two shots in his pistol, none of which hit Beast Boy. "You might want to hurry."
Mason then closed the communicator, dropped it on the floor, then stomped the communicator into pieces. He knew that they could trace the call after it was made and still find him so there was no need to keep the communicator any more. He wanted them to know where he was, he guessed that it would take them at most an hour to traverse through the entire city from the false warehouse base he had misdirected them to and make it to the cabin.
Mason walked over to the chair that Sarah was strapped down to and looked the girl in the eyes; he did his best to try to soften them for her. He doubted she felt safer. Mason pulled out his knife and, after reassuring her that she was going to be alright, cut her rope binds and set her free. "You play by the rules, so you are rewarded." He then suddenly asked, "Do you love Beast Boy?"
She nodded.
"Then go ahead and help him down, I'm done with both of you. Your friends should be arriving very soon." He then walked out the door after stepping over Ramon's corpse. The black van was waiting outside along with the mercenary Mason had brought along to the cabin. He had a friend he needed to visit, and he was going to have some help with visiting.
Did you like it? Did you like Mason's 'courtroom' style? Lemme know your thoughts loyal readers. Next chapter, Mason wants the informer, Juan Fuentes, dead. And he's going to do it himself if he has to.
